In addition to the primary function of a vehicle armrest of providing a surface on which a vehicle occupant may rest his or her arm, armrests are required to support both vertical and horizontal loads to meet durability and side impact requirements. A secondary function of an armrest is to provide a reaction surface for a side impact air bag, for example disposed in a vehicle door, during a side impact collision event.
However, the increasing stature and girth of the average vehicle occupant (and of crash dummies used to test vehicle crash performance) provides a reduced gap between a vehicle occupant and an armrest, concurrently impairing side impact air bag deployment and ultimately side impact performance. There is accordingly a need identified in the art for armrest designs which compensate for the reduced gap between occupant and armrest, thereby improving side impact performance.
To solve this and other problems, the present disclosure relates to a displaceable armrest. Advantageously, the disclosed displaceable armrest is configured to translate from a deployed orientation to a folded orientation on detection of a side or other impact, thereby improving passenger cabin space and side impact performance.